This article considers rising youth unemployment in West Africa and the role of trade and migration in meeting this challenge. Lessons and opportunities can be drawn from the implementation of free movement protocols in West Africa, with recommendations on how the rest of Africa can benefit from...

Intra-African migration has a strong pro-trade effect. It contributes to greater intra-African trade in products and services, generates revenues for governments and regions, while addressing the continent’s broader development challenges. Migration can be a catalyst for the continent’s socio-...

Economic relations between China and African nations have generated much interest among development experts and practitioners over the last two decades. Behind this attention lies the high stakes for Africa regarding the opportunities and challenges involved in the deepening relationship with the...

While economic ties between China and African countries have vastly expanded over the past decades, falling commodity prices and rising debt levels risk reversing this process. Can China’s Belt and Road Initiative reinvigorate the relationship? Economic links between China and Africa have increased...

As Chinese firms and capital play an increasingly dominant role in African infrastructure development, what are the potential opportunities for promoting sustainable development? And what social and environmental risks could this trend entail? Across African cities, Chinese-emblazoned signs litter...

As China’s four-decade long demographic dividend is coming to an end, the country is actively seeking to seize new economic opportunities in higher-value-added productive activities. Could Africa be the big winner of this economic restructuring? In September, leaders of China and most African...

While in the development community and beyond, there is a widespread feeling that China is investing heavily in Africa, factual data shows the precise opposite. How can this be explained, and what is the real nature of China’s economic engagement on the continent? China’s official data on outward...

China’s growing interest in supporting the development of Africa’s telecom infrastructure has been met with suspicion in some quarters. Is such engagement favouring the emergence of an authoritarian version of the information society on the continent? Huawei, China’s leading telecom equipment...

Crafting a Framework on Investment Facilitation – ICTSD – June 2018 A coalition of over 70 WTO members endorsed a Joint Ministerial Statement on Investment Facilitation for Development during the global trade club’s 11 th Ministerial Conference. The statement outlined the group’s interest in...

The EU is looking to increase its emissions reduction target for the year 2030 under the UN’s Paris Agreement on climate change following the political consensus on three clean energy files over the past fortnight. Under the Paris Agreement, all countries have made climate pledges, known as...